High school threatened after Oklahoma slaying

Neighborhood resident Sherrie Shannon of Duncan, Oklahoma, places flowers at a memorial on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013, at the scene where Australian college student Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, was found dead of a gunshot wound on Friday in Duncan, Oklahoma August 21, 2013. Three teenage boys were charged on Tuesday in the killing of Lane, in what police said might have been a thrill killing.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Public schools in Duncan, Okla., were on alert on Wednesday when police received threats against Duncan High School after the arrest of three teenagers in connection with the killing of a university student from Australia.

The school, in a town of 24,000 about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City, was told of the anonymous threats on Tuesday night by police, schools superintendent Sherry Labyer said in a message on the Duncan Public Schools' website. The nature of the threats was not known.

Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne was killed by a gunshot in the back on Friday as he was jogging in Duncan.

Duncan public schools were requiring students to stay on campus until a parent or guardian checked them out, Labyer said. She said children whose parents preferred to keep them home would be excused, Labyer said.

“Please know that we are committed to taking all reasonable action to protect the well-being of our students,” said Labyer.

A representative for Duncan High School declined to say if the suspects attended that school, and referred questions to police, who did not immediately return calls for comment.

Chancey Allen Luna, 16, and James Francis Edwards Jr., 15, have been charged with first-degree murder, according to the Stephens County District Attorney's office. Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, has been charged with use of a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and accessory to murder after the fact, the district attorney's office said.

All three have been charged as adults, though Jones is considered a youthful offender.

District Attorney Jason Hicks said he intended to pursue adult sentences for all three. In Jones' case, that would be five years to 45 years for being an accessory after the fact, and two years to life for use of a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon.

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